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UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIAMINISTRY OF WATER

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OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP M0R0G0R0,2-5 MARCH 1999

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STATUS OF WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATIONSECTORS IN TANZANIA

BY:

Prof.ldris A.MtuliaPermanent Secretary, Ministry of Water.

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TABLE OC CONTENTS

Page No.

1. Introduction 3

2. Analysis of the existing situation 6

3. Government Policy and Strategies 10

4. Conclusions 12

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 An Overview:

Water Supply and Sanitation Sector is vital for supporting National Economicdevelopment by improving health and productivity of the population.

Tanzania like the rest of developing world has most of its population living inrural areas where it is subjected to diseases derived from unsafe water andimproper sanitation. It is estimated that more than 80% of the diseases and 30%of deaths in Tanzania are caused by people drinking the contaminated water.

Tanzania has its major collaborative efforts between the Government and aseries of external agencies in improving the quality of life of its citizens byparticipating in a global WATER DECADE (1980-1990) and HEALTH FOR ALLby the year 2000 with the aim to provide every family with access to clean waterand hygienic excreta disposal. In the implementation of the programmesattention was focussed on the construction of the new schemes to take pacewith the main objectives of 100% coverage at the end of the programmes. Littleefforts were given to operation, maintenance and management of the completedSchemes. As a result in the course of the implementation of the programmes itwas noted that the situation was different in that many water supply andsanitation services were either abandoned or provided services below theirexpected capacities resulting into a very low coverage.

1.1.1 Service Coverage

The population of Tanzania har risen from 9 million during independence in 1961to over 30 million inhabitants today. Approximately 25% of this population live inurban while the rest lives in rural areas.

Being among the sub Sahara country, Tanzania experiences a high populationgrowth rate exceeding 3% per annum but more than 6% for urban settlementmainly due to migration. Despite the considerable investments of the governmentresources in terms of manpower and finance in the water sector, studies haveshow that in 1997 only 48% of 22.5 million rural population and 68% of 7.5million urban population had access to safe drinking water. This figure does nothowever, take into consideration the frequent breakdown of the facilities due topoor operation and maintenance. In sanitation on the other hand, it has beenreported that 98% of the urban population have access to sanitary disposal ofthe excreta. Also about 84% of the rural households are having latrines neartheir homes.(Source UNICEF SWC.1997). It is evident that this figure shows a

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high level of sanitation coverage, as a result of extensive latrinization programsimplemented during the IDWSD (1980-1990).

On the basis of the above figures, it is considered to be a quantitative rather thana qualitative coverage, statistically. It indicates that only few defecation takesplace in open air, although many rural individual household latrines often are inpoor condition because of inadequate maintenance.

1.1.2 Health Indicators

Epidemiological data shows that infant mortality rate which is to a large extentrelated to poor environmental sanitation is about 100 deaths for every 1000infants. These figure shows that Tanzania is above the Africa and global rate of88 per 1000 and 59 per 1000 respectively.For children less than five years ofage the mortality rate is 160 per 1000 while global rate is 78 per 1000 and forAfrica is 130 per 1000. It is evident that there is an incidence of water bornediseases such as diarrhea and cholera, which are prevalent throughout thecountry.

In 1997 there was an outbreak of cholera which spread to all 20 regions in themainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. In the mainland there were a total of 40,249cases notified and 2,231 deaths (Epidemiology Unit MOH 1997). Frequentoutbreak of choler§ in the country and in most recent in many regions can beperceived as either the use of contaminated water supply or adopting unsanitarymeans of excreta disposal and poor health practices. This also indicates the lifecosts due to little attention to the proper functioning of water supply andsanitation services.

1.2 ASPECT OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

For many years before and after independence many water supply andsanitation programmes have been implemented. Before Independence, theexecution of water supply projects were being done by the Central Governmentwhere by local authorities were contributing 25% and the central Governmentthe rest; Operation and Maintenance costs were met by revenue from watersales collected by the local authorities. These services were primarily deliveredin townships trading centers, mission centers and large estates. Noticeableinvestment did not begin in rural area until post independence. Afterindependence O& M activities were done by the central Government throughregional administration. In 1965-1969 The Government in collaboration with theSwedish Assistance initiated a Regional Maintenance Unit (RMU) in 16 regionsand the uniform procedures of running them had already been established. Thesystem was changed after decentralization in 1970's. Funds for O& M were

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being channeled from Treasury through RWEs' and DWEs' offices. Districtmaintenance units started in 1975 with the constructions of District water officeswith. Local and additional funds from Swedish credit (Maji facilities Fund).DWES, continues to get technical assistance from the RWE's Office.With the re- introduction of local Government Authorities in 1980's, funds for 0 &M were channeled to District councils and for Urban areas were allocated toRWE through RDD's. This approach resulted into wide disparities in regionalcoverage and the community participation level. Despite the significantinvestment made by the govt. and donor agencies during the 20 years program(1971-1990), by 1991 only 42% of the rural population had an access to safewater and 67% of the urban, population were served with potable water supply.The program had therefore failed to meet its expected target of 100% coverage.

The target was then revised by extending it to year 2002 and was referred to as"WATER FOR ALL BY 2002" At this stage the Government recognized theimportance of National Water policy which was subsequently launched inNov.1991

The National Water Policy marked a clear departure from the era of FREEWATER by introducing a new philosophy of COST SHARING in RWS andcomplete COST RECOVERY in UWS. Unfortunately the policy did not effectivelyaddress the need for sustainability of the sector as a result, at the end of 1993,the service coverage rose marginally to 46% of the rural population and 68% ofurban population.Out of this about 30% of the water supply schemes in ruralareas were either malfunctioning or completely inoperative.

The root causes of the failure among others are unsatisfactory operation andmaintenance, poor design, Improper management, Institutional setups and poorwater resources management. The Ministry of Water is now in the middle of thereview of the water policy to accommodate the sustainability issues of watersupply and sanitation services.

2.0 ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING SITUATION

Currently Water and Health sectors commands a very high profile in theGovernment. A specific ministry responsible for Water and of Health is anexample of the level to which the sectors are prioritized in Tanzania. However,the financial resources allocated to the water sector have not beencommensurate with the reflected priority it deserves in the national economy.The low level of Government funding in the water sector was also experiencedduring the IDWSSD. It has been noted that country economic progress, had littleimpact on the Social Services (Health, Water, Education) due to the continueddecline in government budgetary allocation. For example in 1995/96 water sectorwas allocated 4.95% of development budget, out of the total budget for allsectors. The amount declined to 4.51 in 1996/97 budget. This constraints isbeing solved by on going government reform. The use of non traditional funding

system in water and sanitation sector is encouraged by introducing private sectorin its program.

For example, the private firms or individuals can construct water supplies and/orsanitary facilities and sell the service to the people. Similarly individuals or groupof people could take part in the management of water and sanitation facilities.

Tanzania health strategy focuses on the delivery of primary health care services,with the objective of strengthening district management capacity, multisectoralcollaboration, and community involvement.

More than 60% of the health services in the country are provided by thegovernment and the remainder is provided by non governmental organisationsand private sectors. The services are provided through referral, Region, districtto the village levels.

According to Tanzania Demographic Health Survey) (TDHS 1996) there are180 hospital in the country most of them being Regional hospital. At the divisionlevel, there were 296 health centres and the ward level there are 3,286dispensaries. At the village level, village health post have been establishedstaffed with at least two village health workers. There were more than 5,550village health workers in Tanzania (1996).

All these health facilities are contributing to an extent in the promotion ofsanitation and hygiene practices.

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2.1 Urban Sanitation

The sanitation in urban areas in particular has suffered the most, probable, dueto rapid urbanization which could not cope with the already poor provision of thebasic services. Even today the situation has not been addressed adequately.Dar-es-Salaam city for an example, with a population of over 3 million withinstitution and Industries it is still at a very low level in dealing with sanitationproblems. About 2000-2500 tons of solid waste and 20,000-30,000 tons of liquidwaste are produced daily. Today only 20% of the solid waste are collected anddumped in unsanitary landfill. Sewage from conventional sewer system andseptic tanks account for 28-30% of the total load which ends in wastewateroxidation ponds and sea out fall.

Apart from Dar-es salaam only 6 other urban centers of Arusha, Mwanza,Dodoma, Tanga, Moshi and Tabora have sewerage systems at various level ofdisintegration. The remaining of regional urban centers use onsite sanitation orseptic tanks. Since the cesspit emptier are insufficient or non-existent in somesmall urban centers, untreated effluent cause an environmental pollution. Manualemptying of septic tanks and latrines (traditional frog emptying) is in some casespractical in crude and unhealthy ways. Solid waste collection and disposal is alsoa current problem in Tanzania especially in unplanned urban development. Mostof the domestic garbage produced is not readily collected and the collectedwaste is disposed crudely on land or incinerated in open air.

Storm water drainage system adopted in most of urban centers in Tanzania isopen channels. Some of these channels has been'constructed, beforeindependence and have not been upgraded since 1960s. The unimprovedchannels overflows cause environmental degradation like erosion and waterponds in urban settlement areas which results into a breeding site for mosquitoand other insects vectors of diseases.

2.2 Rural Sanitation

Traditionally rural Tanzanian use pit latrines for excrete disposal. Conventionalwater closet toilets are only found in developed rural areas with piped watersupplies. Studies shows that out of 85% of the rural population having latrines;25% of the latrine have no roofs and about half of them have no doors. Thepoorly constructed pit latrines (which are often shallow) are becoming a breedingsite for flies and cockroaches which are carriers of faecal borne infections, Theycan also cause surface and ground water pollution especially in areas with highwater table.

Solid wastes in rural areas have not yet had the impact in pollution of theenvironment as compared to urban areas as it is used in farms as manure; whilstnoncompostable materials are burned in open air.

12.3 Urban Water Supplies

Urban water supply has traditionally been managed at three levels; National,Regional and District levels. Until 1994 all regional water supplies, with exceptionof Dar es Salaam and Dodoma came under the responsibility of Regional WaterEngineers (RWE). By then Dodoma was directly under MOW, while NUWA (nowDAWASA) responsible for Dar es Salaam water supply functioned as aGovernment Corporation. For several years operation and maintenance of urbanwater supplies and sewerage systems has been inadequate. In order to readressthe situation, the Ministry of Water, through an in house team of experts andsupported by donor agencies conducted a study in 1992 in order to exploitmeans and methods of improving O & M of these systems. As a result of thestudy in February 1997 the Parliament amended some legislation concerningthe water sector including water works ordinance. In operationalizing theordinance the Minister for Water declared all eighteen regional urban centers tohave autonomous water authorities called Urban Water and SewerageAuthorities (UWSAs). These authorities are managed by the Board of Directorsappointed by the Minister for Water.

The UWSA has been categorized as, (a), for those authorities which meets all O& M costs; (b), those which can meet O&M costs except staff salaries and (c) forthose which can meet O&M costs except staff salaries and electricity charges.

As per December, 1998 the categorization was as follows:-

Category (a) Arusha, Moshi, Tanga and Mwanza; Category (b) Morogoro, Mbeyaand Tabora the rest falls under category (C). The establishment of UWSASshows a drastic improvement in both service delivery and revenue collection.

2.4 Rural Water supply

The most under developed area in terms of water supply provision is in the ruraland in small urban centers. As observed earlier it is estimated that only 48%(1997) of the rural population gets water. The MOW conducts its responsibilityfor rural water supply in Regions and districts through Regional Water Engineers(RWE) and District Water Engineers (DWE) offices. The work of DWE at districtlevels is guided by Districts Authorities. Administratively DWE and RWE areunder the Ministry of Local Government and regional Administration respectivelybut technically they are under MOW. The draft Rural Water Supply component ofthe Water Policy (1998) clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of thevarious actors as well as those of the stakeholder groups in the sustainabledevelopment and delivery of rural water supply services. Regarding certaintasks, such as health education and community mobilization the water sector isalso closely coordinated activities with the Ministry of Health and Ministry ofCommunity Development, Women Affairs and Children.

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2.5 PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS

A number of lessons have been learned and constraints identified as a result ofthe implementation of water supply and sanitation programs.

These include the following:-

2.5.1 One of the major constraints for water supply and sanitation sector developmentin the country is inadequate operation and maintenance. Its implication resultedinto poor sanitation, decrease in water production, and high cost of rehabilitationof the constructed schemes.

2.5.2 Lack of awareness and general ignorance of the dangers caused by poorsanitation. Latrines and health are taken as separate issues. Latrines are notbuilt for health reasons but for privacy. People do not understand that havinglatrines is not all enough as feaces and urine remain on the floor and get accessto flies and cockroaches, which are carrier of diseases.

2.5.3 The non existence of an information system capable of monitoring facilities andactivities in the sector, that is lack of centralized database for sanitation.Inadequate reliable information has been a constraints to planning, managementand rehabilitation services.

2.5.4 In appropriate choice of technology. During design of water schemes, at timeunserviceable or difficult to operate and maintain technologies have be selected.

2.5.5 Old age of the systems.In most urban water supply systems the existing pumping system and treatmentplants are working under design capacity and also contributing to about 30 -40% water loss from the systems.

2.5.6 In appropriate institutional arrangement of Operation and Maintenance of UrbanWater Supply and Sewerage has, until recently, suffered a number of set back.

• There was no relationship between the revenue collection and fund allocationfor O & M services.

• Water tariff rates were uniform in all urban centers regardless of the variationin the cost of production and service rendered in the individual system.

• Private sector was not fully involved in the water service delivery and thebeneficiaries were not involved in the operation of the system.

2.5.7 In rural water supply, the question of ownership, section 5 (2) of the LocalGovernment (Finance) Act No.9 of 1982 stipulates that all waterworks and otherproperties of the kind situated in the respective district are vested in the district

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council. By virtual of this legislation all waterworks are deemed properties of thedistrict council.The district council is empowered to delegate the discharge ofthese functions. This become a constraints in the implementation of water policy(revised 1997) which declares the users, to be the owner of water and sanitationintervention.

2.5.8 Inadequate legal and regulatory framework. Pollution of water sources, illegalconnections and the participation of private sector in the water and sanitationactivities are areas which have not been adequately addressed by the existinglegal and regulatory framework.

3.0 THE GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND STRATEGIES

The water sector in Tanzania is guided by the water policy of 1991. Thedocument covers issues of the use and allocation of water resources andsewerage services.

The Government has no specific policy on sanitation but the implementation ofsanitation programs is guided partly by reviewed water policy and in some partby health policies. The main objective of sanitation sector is to improve the urbanareas and to extend services to the uncovered rural communities.

3.1 STRATEGIES

The main strategy to Water and Sanitation is to achieve the broad objective ofwater and sanitation sectors which is "WATER FOR ALL BY 2002 and HEALTHFOR ALL BY 2000" ;-< — I

3.1.1 Government Role

Because of major institutional reform occurring in many sectors in the country,and due to donor re-orientation of their support in water and sanitation sectors,the Government is now moving from being a PROVIDER of the services to thatof being a FACILITATOR AND PROMOTOER.

The sectors are adopting policies on investment and cost recovery, which lead tofinancial self sufficient of the sector with government contribution clearly definedand limited to achieve specific target.

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3.1.2 Community role:

The government has put an effort on the promotion of the role of communities inthe sectors. The water policy provides for full involvement of users at all stagesof the project especially planning, construction, operation and maintenance,through this involvement and adequately support, the community willprogressively own the water supply schemes and therefore will be responsiblefor the upkeep of the facilities. The community will also participate in theconstruction of their individual household latrines and solid waste disposalfacilities.

3.1.3 Demand Responsive Approach

The Demand Responsive Approach (DRA) has emerged an innovative strategyfor assisting willing communities to improve their water supply and sanitationservices. The approach involves the community to identify and solve WSSproblems and improve their user satisfaction, sustainability and resourcemobilization by re-orienting the supply agencies to respond to communitydemand for improved services.

3.1.4 Women participation

Women play a central role on the provision, management and safeguarding ofwater supply and sanitation facilities. Women participation will be promotedthrough effective participation in decision-making, planning and implementationof water and sanitation. Facilities manage the operation and maintenance andconduct health education for hygiene and environmental sanitation.

3.1.5 Private sector and NGOs

Tanzania is seriously exploiting possibilities of the private sector participation(PSP) in the water and sanitation sectors. The World Bank under InstitutionalReform Component is supporting this interactive through Bank's support toDAWASA in Dar es Salaam. In other towns and in villages the involvement ofprivate sector and NGOs is limited to consultancy, contracting, equipmentmanufacturing and supplies, community mobilization, operation and maintenanceservices, hygiene education and finance.

The Government however ,has to create an enabling environment and capacitybuilding for PSP to be operative.

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3.1.6 External support Agencies (ESA)

The external support agencies are providing support to the sector through theGovernment or with NGOs in partnership with the Government. They shouldwork closely with the sectors to develop strategies arrived at standardization andintegration of numerous approaches existing in the country to day.

3.1.7 Coordination

National Water and Sanitation Sector Coordination Unit has recently beenestablished. Through UNDP founded project known as "Water and SanitationSector Coordination Project". In this respect regular consultative meeting areheld at which experience are shared.

Country level collaboration is done through the consultative meetings and theAnnual Water Experts Conference (AWEC) last held in December 1998.

In the district and village level the coordination is done in collaboration with theMinistry of Community Development Women Affairs and Children through the 'Community Development Department.

However, the UNDP project has started the coordination mechanism in aselected district in lake zone, the experience gained will be disseminated to otherdistricts in the country.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Operation and maintenance is a challenge to the water and sanitation sectors.This is so because of the long history where Government has been responsiblefor the provision of these services to its people. The emphasis now is for thepeople to run these service themselves.

The current Government approach through community involvement hasencouraged people in the process of ownership and management of water andsanitation facilities and thus influencing a desire to change towards sustainability.

The cost sharing and cost recovery approach in the running of the facilities willenable to sustain the completed schemes and to maintain the coverageachieved.

Funds from the traditional sources, therefore could be invested in new projects tocover more people and progressing step by step towards achieving the 2002target.

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